Valve forging machine



July 13, 1943. l. BLAcKMoRE ET AL VALVE FORGING MACHINE .Filed Nov. 28, 1940 6 sheeis-sheet 1 July 13, 1943.

L. lBLACKMORE ET AL VALVE FORGING MACHINE .Filed Nov. 28. 1940 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 July 13, 1943-l l. BLAcKMoRE ET AL VALVE FORGING MACHINE Filed NOV. 28, 1940 6 Sheets-Sheet n 5 SWAN ma mx N MM mw Gttornegs www July 13, 1943.

VALVE FORGING MACHINE .Filed Nov. 2e, 1940 L. BLAcKMoRr-z ET AL 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 @g ff 'Bg W July 13, 1943- i.. BLACKMORE T AL 2,323,971

VALVE FORGING MACHINE 3 mentors 11u w@ Lttorncgs July 13, 1943.

VALVE FORGING MACH'INE Filed Nov. 28, 1940 6 Sheets-heet 6 l.. BLACKMORE ET AL 2,323,971

Patented July 13, 1943 VALVE FORGING MACHINE `Lloyd Blackmore, Highland Park, and Marx C.

Kristek, Flint, Mich., assignors to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Application Novemberv28, 1940, Serial No. 367,534

6 Claims.

This invention relates to a process and a machine for upsetting poppet valves such as are used with the cylinders of engines of therfour cycle type to admit explosive mixture and to'disprogressing the work to upsetting stations whereby multiple operations are performed with each stroke of the press to form a completed valve.

Other objects and advantages will be understood from the description which follows:l

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a view of the machine in side elevation.

Figure 2 is a view in front elevation.

Figure v3 is a plan View of the lower die carrying member as seen from line 3 3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a section like Figure 4, but with parts displaced.

Figures 6 to 12, inclusive, are sections as indicated ioy the appropriate lines of Figure 3.

Figure 13 is a section on line |3|3 of Figure 6.

Figures 14 and 15 are sections, the sections being indicated by appropriate lines on Figure 3.

Figure 16 is a view in elevation partly in section, the View being intended to show the clutch releasing mechanism.

Figure 17 is a view on line |1|1 of Figure 16.

The machine includes a supporting frame 2| carrying a motor 22 which drives, by intermediate gearing 23, a gear 25 which is rigid with a clutch element 21. The parts 25 and 21 are rotatably mounted on a shaft 3| while the cooperating clutch member 29 is slidably keyed on shaft 3l As shown on Figure 16, clutch members 21 and 29 are biased into engaged position by springs 33 located between the clutch member 29 and a flange 350m shaft 3|. There is a lever 31 pivoted at 39 to an arm 4| extended from the flange 35. A pin and slot connection as seen at 43 is provided between the work end of this lever and the clutch element 29. Within a part of the supporting frame adjacent the circular path of movement of the other end of lever 31 is secured a sleeve 44. Reciprocable therein is a stem 45. Also within the sleeve is a spring 41. The spring urges a head 49 on the end of stem 45 into the path of movement of an enlarged end 5| of the lever 31. A pin 53 projects from the stem 45. It is engaged by the end of a lever 55 pivoted at 51 (see Fig. 1). The other end of lever 55 is pivoted to the end of a compression link 59, the l latter being reciprocated by a manually operable away from the lever end 5| with the result that spring 33 effectsI the engagement of the clutch elements'Zl and 29 whereby the shaft 3| is rotated. To release the clutch, manual pressure on the pedal is relieved whereupon part 49 moves into the path of the rotating lever 31 so that the lever is rocked when its end 5| engages 49 and the rotation of lever 31 moves clutch member 29 away from clutch member 21 against the resilient action of spring 33.

Shaftl 3| terminates with an eccentric 61 surrounded by an annulus 39 carrying a ball 1| seated in a socket in an upper vertically reciprocable upsetting member 13 whereby said upper member is reciprocatecl upwardly and downwardly in response to rotation of shaft 3|. This upper member ls suitably guided by the frame member oi' the machine. The upper member carries a plurality of depending guide rods 15 for passage through guide openings 11 in a lower die carrying member 19. Upon their upwa-d movement the rods 15 move from openings 11 so that the lower member 19. may rotate about a central axis 8|.

The lower member has a series of die holders arranged in a circle and of which numeral 83 (Figure 6) is illustrative. Within each die holder is an apertured and longitudinally slotted sleeve 85, the sleeve being intended to receive the lower end of a length of rod that will be the stem of the finished valve. The die 81 carried by the holder 83 is held in position by a threaded cap 89. The die 81 is shaped as required to form the head of a valve. There are seven of these die holders as shown by Figures 6 to 12, inclusive. Figure 6 shows the die holder into which the blank (a predetermined length of rod with a heated end section) is to be inserted. Figures 7 to 11 show steps in the formation of the valve from the blank. Referring to Figure 6 it will be seen that a reciprocable rod 9| is slidable transversely in a part 93 rigid with the frame. At its inner end this rod 9| carries a pin 95 extending at right angles to the axis of the rod. The pin is connected to a transversely slidable part marked 91. e pin 95 is guided in a cam slot 99 formed in any convenient Way in the above described vertically slidable upper member. Above the pin 95 is a feed cylinder |0| carried rigidly by the frame and intended for the reception of the heated rod from which a valve is to be formed. A blank |03 (shown in dotted lines Fig. 6) is fed through this cylinder 10| and may rest on the top of part 91. When the upper member is moved to its uppermost position the cam slot moves part 91 laterally so that a passage |05 therein may register with the feed passage |0| and the blank then drops within said passage |05. Simultaneously with the upward movement of the upper member, a. lever |01 is rocked upwardly about its pivot |09 by a pin carried by the upwardly moving member and engaging a slot in the intermediate part of the lever. The lever end which extends within passage |05 is thus removed from the passage before the cam slot functions to shift the member 91. When the upper member moves downwardly, and after the blank has been inserted, the lever end enters and moves downwardly in the passage |05 as shown in Figure 6. Its arm is of such length that the end moves faster than the upper member whereby the blank is pushed by the lever to its lowermost position as shown by Figure 6.

While a new blank is thus being inserted as in Figure 6 by the downward movement of the upper member, this same downward movement' member, the lower member must be rotated after each lifting movement of the upper member to an extent suflicient to subject each blank to the nearest successive operation.

For the purpose of rotating the lower die carrying member the following expedient is employed. The guide rods 15 on the upper member must obviously be removed from the lower member before that member is rotated and they are so dimensioned as to leave the openings 11 when the upper member rises. To the upper member is secured one or more arms ||3, each terminating in an apertured collar H5 slidable on the stem of a rack ||1, see Fig. 14, and beneath a head l |9. The head is engageable with the collar and may be lifted as shown in Figure 2 whereby the rack is raised. The teeth |2| of the rack (see Figure 14) engage the teeth |23 of a pinion |25 whereby a beveled gear |21 is rotated. This beveled gear |21 is in mesh with a beveled gear |28 carried on the under side of the rotatable die carrying member 19. Between the pinion |25 and the beveled gear |21 is a one-way drive spring pressed dog |29 as shown in Figure 15, the dog engaging cam notches in a member |3| which may be rigid with gear |21. By this means the upward movement of the rack serves to rotate the parts described but its downward movement takes place without any rotation of the gear. To lock the gears and lower die carrying member in position while the guide rods 15 are being lowered, the member |3| has notches |33, successively engaged by a plunger |35 having a head |31 (Figures 3 and 14) The head |31 is engaged by spring |39. Obviously the plunger must be held clear of the notches to permit the rack to rise and for that purpose the rack is provided with a cam slot |4| to receive a roller |43 on a sleeve |45 also carried by head |31. As the reciprocating member 13 moves upwardly and before the engagement with the head ||9 of the rack the guide rods 15 rise from the openings 11 whereby the lower member is free to be rotated. After the collar ||5 engages the head ||9 of the rack the rack is raised. In rising, it rotates the pinion |25 and gear |21 and turns lower member 19. As the rackrises the plunger |35 rides over the surface of |3| between the notches |33 and drops into the next adjacent notch under the iniiuence of spring |39, being permitted to do so because the cam slot |4| is then opposite the roller |43. As the upper member descends and pushes lting step shown in Figure 11.

and the lock device |35 holds the table from rota-L tion until locked by the rods 15. Thereafter the wall of the cam slot |4| engages the roller |43 and the locking pin |35 is removed from the notch |33, the parts being then positioned as shown by Figure 14.

The valve formation is completed by the upset- When the die carrier is rotated to the position shown in Figure 12, no additional upsetting takes place but in this stage the valve is to be removed. For that purv pose a push rod |45 (Figure 12) slides in a. passage |41 provided for the purpose. It is adapted to push an ejector rod |5| upwardly through the base |49 and through the sleeve 35 to engage the valve stem and eject the valve. This upward reciprocation is effected by a lever |53 pivoted at |55 (Figure 2). The work end of the lever enters a slot |51 in rod |45. Its power end is pivoted to a link |59, the other end of the link being connected to pin In this way, simultaneously with the movement of lever |01 to push a new blank into position, push rod |5| ejects a completed valve. 'I'he process is thus continuous and the operation is sufficiently rapid so that the heated blank travels through the several steps of the operation before becoming cool.

It is necessary that the stems be gripped in the several steps identified by Figures 7 to l1. The gripping must become effective just after the reception of the blank as shown by Figure 6 and before the forging operation shown by Figure 7. The gripping device must also be released just before the ejection step shown by Figure 12. For this purpose each sleeve 85 is longitudinally slotted as shown at |6|, in Figure 4. The valve stem is to be gripped between the part of the sleeve 85 opposite the slot and by a movable gripping member |63, the latter having a stem |55 formed with a flange |61 and a cam-shaped head |69. The flange |61 is located within a closed cup |1| threaded to the die carrier and a spring |13 also within the cup presses the stem and the gripping member |63 toward its active y position. A sleeve |15 is rotatably supported on the cup |1|. It has a cam-shaped head cooperating with head |69 and it also has a radial arm |11. In one position of the arm the gripping device |63 is held from gripping position by the oooperating cams and in another position the cam construction releases the gripping device |33 to the influence of the spring |13.

As the die carrier rotates from the position of Figure 6 to that of Figure 7 a lug |19, Fig. 3, engages one end of the arm |11 and rotates the sleeve |15 so that the spring 13 functions to cause the stem to be gripped as explained above. This gripping continues until the several upsetting operations are completed. Just before reaching the Figure 12 position another lug |3|, Fig. 3, engages the other end of arm |11 and rotates the member |15 to withdraw the gripping member 63 from engagement with the stem. By this means the valve may be ejected by the action of the partsshown in Figure l2 and as hereinbefore described' '4 It will be seen that by means of theapparatus described, a heated blank is fed into the receiving cylinder |0| for each successive step in the rotation of the lower member 19, and that upon the descent of the upper member the blank is positioned inthe first die, that of Figure 6. Simultaneously the cooperating die and plunger of Figure 7 produces an elongated frustum of a cone on the blank which is just ahead` of the one being inserted. The same simultaneous descent of the upper member produces in the next die, that shown by Figure 8, a shortened conical end.

Figure 9 showing the die and plunger next in advance of that of Figure 8 shows a still further shortening of the cone on the end of the blank. In-Figure 10 the plunger i013 is fiat on its under side and forms the normal valve head. In Figure l1, the last of the upsetting steps, a recess is formed in the valve head by a somewhat convex shape given the plunger. As explained above. Figure 12 shows the step where the valve is ejected.

We claim:

1. A machine for upsetting poppet valves comprising a rotatable table, a plurality of head forming dies distributed in a circular series upon said table, a reciprocable non-rotatable member u above said table carrying a circular series of plungers to cooperate in sequence with the intermediate head forming dies as the table rotates, said plungers formed to successively shape the end of a blank in each of said dies to form a valve head, together with means to feed a blank into a iirst of said dies, said last named means comprising a fixed tubular` member to receive said blank and located above but offset from said first die, a laterally movable tubular member vertically between said rst die and said fixed tubular member and mechanism responsive to a reciprocating movement of said non-rotatable member to move said movable tubular member from registration with said fixed tubular member and into registration with said rst die.

2. A machine for upsetting poppet valves comprising a rotatable table, a plurality of head forming dies distributed in a circular series upon said table, a reciprocable non-rotatable member above said table carrying a circular series of plungers to cooperate in sequence with the intermediate head forming dies as the table rotates, said plungers formed to successively shape the end of a blank in each of said dies to form a valve head, together with means to feed a blank into a first of said dies, said last named means comprising a xed tubular member to receive said blank and located above but offset from said first die, a laterally movable tubular member vertically between said iirst die and said iixed tubular member and mechanism responsive to a reciprocating movement of said non-rotatable member to move said movable tubular member from registration with said fixed tubular member and into registration with said first die, said mechanism comprising a pin on the laterally movable member and a cooperating cam slot formed in said non-rotatable member.

3. A machine for upsetting poppet valves comprising a rotatable table, a plurality of head forming dies distributed in a circular series upon said table, a reciprocable non-rotatable member above said table carrying a circular series of plungers' to cooperate Iin sequence with the intermediate head formingdies as the table rotates, said plungers formed to successively shape the end of a blank in each of said dies to form a valve head, together with power driven means oppo- -sitely to reciprocate said non-rotatable member toward and from said rotatable table, locking rods carried by said non-rotatable member to engage said table and rack and pinion means operable to rotate said table in response to the upward movement of said non-rotatable member and one-way clutch means associated with said rack and pinion to render said rack and pinion head, together with power driven means oppo sitely to reciprocate said non-rotatable member toward and from said rotatable table, locking rods carried by said non-rotatable member to engage said table and rack and pinion means operable to rotate said table in response to the upward movement of said non-rotatable member and one-way clutch means associated with said rack and pinion to render said rack and pinion inoperative upon said table in response to the opposite movement of said non-rotating member, and a spring operated locking pin to hold said table from rotation during said inoperative movement of the rack and supplementary means operable to release said locking pin subsequent to the locking of the table by the rods.

5. A machine for upsetting poppet valves comprising a rotatable table, a plurality of head forming dies distributed in a circular series upon said table, a reciprocable non-rotatable member above. said table carrying a circular series of plungers to cooperate in sequence with the intermediate head formng dies as the table rotates, said plungers formed to successively shape the end of a blank in each of said dies to form a valve head, together with means to simultaneously feed a blank into a rst of said dies and eject lthe formed Valve from the last of said dies, said last named means comprising a plurality of levers rotatable simultaneously in opposite directions, first mechanism whereby one lever is operable to feed a blank to the rst die and second mechanism whereby the other lever functions to eject the finished valve from the last die.

6. A machine for upsetting poppet valves comprising a rotatable table, a plurality oi head forming dies distributed in a circular series upon said table, a reciprocable non-rotatable member above said table carrying a circular series of plungers to cooperate in sequence with the intermediate head forming dies as the table rotates. said plungers formed to successively shape the end of a blank ineach of said dies to form a valve head, together with means to simultaneously feed a blank into a rst`of said dies and eject the formed valve from the last of said dies, said last named means comprising a plurality of levers rotatable simultaneously in opposite directions, first mechanism whereby one lever is operable to feed a blank to the iirst die and second mechanism whereby 'the other lever functions to eject the finished valve from the last die, and means responsive to the reciprocation of'said non-rotatable member to rock said levers.

. LLOYD BLACKMORE.

MARX C. KRISTEK. 

